Australian man jailed for 40 years in US after trafficking adopted son to global paedophile ring

An Australian man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in the United States for trafficking his adopted son to a global paedophile network.

The 42-year-old man was arrested in California last year and was found to be part of a global paedophile ring.

Police say the man and his partner travelled the world with the child, allowing at least eight men in several different countries, including Australia, the US, Germany and France, to molest the boy when he was aged between just two and six years old.

The child abuse was so horrific the judge refused to put the case to a jury.

The man was handed the maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment on Saturday after he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor.

The boy's other Australian legal guardian is awaiting sentencing, while two other American men have also been charged.

Police say the boy, now eight, had been living with the men in Cairns for several years when, in 2011, New Zealand authorities discovered that the boy had been used in child pornography.

Queensland police raided the couple's house in 2011, just after the men and the boy had left for the US.